Levante 1 : 0 Almeria - Caicedo on the mark

Posted Sunday, February 13, 2011 by PA

Levante climbed out of the Primera Division relegation zone with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Almeria.

Felipe Caicedo's strike eight minutes into the second half proved decisive at the Ciutat de Valencia and lifted Levante - who started the day third-bottom - two points clear of the drop zone.

Almeria, on the other hand, remained deep in trouble, with only Malaga propping them up.

Juanlu had the first sight of goal for Levante in the fifth minute but fired wide from the edge of the box.

Pablo Piatti had the ball in the net for Almeria four minutes later, but his left-footed effort was disallowed due to handball by Leonardo Ulloa in the build-up.

In a first half lacking in clear-cut chances, it was the visitors who went closest to breaking the deadlock. However, Kalu Uche lashed over the bar and then Albert Crusat's effort flew wide and an Ulloa blast was blocked by Javi Venta.

The breakthrough arrived eight minutes after the break and went the way of Levante, Caicedo slotting a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner from Xisco's pass.

Venta could have stretched Levante's lead four minutes later when he found the space to get his shot away from six yards, but Alves did well to tip it around the post.

Crusat blasted over and Ulloa fired wide as Almeria continued to probe but failed to test Levante goalkeeper Gustavo Munua. Ulloa and Michel also had shots blocked but they could not find the equaliser.